Regina celebrity drag show raises more than $60K for LGBTQ2S+ youth shelter
Some of Regina’s best-known personalities worked the runway at “Walk the Walk,” a celebrity drag show and fundraiser for Regina’s LGBTQ2S+ youth.
Contestants and donations at the event itself brought in more than $61,000, shattering the $100,000 goal needed to pay off the house purchased by Lulu’s Lodge.
“We are still counting, but we are well over $61,000 raised for Lulu’s Lulu's Lodge,” Terry Van Mackelberg, also known by his drag persona Flo Mingo, wrote on Facebook. “We paid off their forever home. And it feels damn good.”
Van Mackelberg organized the event and performed alongside the slate of celebrities in full drag.
The event featured 12 local celebrities, including Mayor Sandra Masters, Morgan Campbell, anchor of CTV News Regina at 6 and Trent Wotherspoon, MLA for Regina Rosemont.
“If you have access to more people, and you have a voice that’s out in the community more, participating in something like this actually helps to advocate for that awareness, and to make everyone feel more included,” said Masters.
Tourism Saskatchewan’s Nathan Morrison as Aida Big Mac took home the crown after a top-three performance against CTV Regina’s Morgan Campbell and Nelson Bird.
According to the John Howard Society, which runs the lodge, the funds will offer the chance to be more be lenient with rent when individuals are transitioning to different housing placements or income sources.
“We don’t have any funding for the operations of the house, so now we can dedicate more to the operations of the home, so the staffing, the recreations,” said Tanna Young, director of social programs with the John Howard Society.
Celebrity participants were required to raise a minimum of $1,000 to enter the competition, while $2,000 raised afforded participants a local drag mentor. Celebrities who raised $5,000 were permitted to perform alongside their drag mentor and $10,000 raised bought them out of the competition.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.